populate fields

[rbsmit02]

I have a table in my database that has a column for first and last name.

Anyone know how I go about this:
When a new record is added to the database i want the first inital of the first name and the whole last name to be printed to a column
in my table called picid.

ex.
Name - Ray Smith
PicID - rsmith

I think I will need to seperate the name column into first and last name columns to do this, but after that im not sure where to start.

Any help is appreciated.

 

[mdmilner]

The answer is don't, use a query instead.

The technique you want is called concatenation.
Create a query based on your table, substitute your fieldnames for FirstName & LastName and drop this line into the QBE Design mode.

PicID: Left(FirstName,1) & LastName

The reason is, queries can be used everywhere a table is used. There isn't any need to duplicate data in your table.

If you really have to do this though, an Update Query (use the above line without PicID to update a third field will work.

Mike